Penn State NFL draft prospect stock watch: Kalen King
The NFL draft is often a crapshoot, regardless of all the time and effort put into scouting the thousands of potential pro prospects every season. Teams, top draft analysts, media, and the average fan all have their opinions, but ultimately it’s a very inexact science. Players billed as first-rounders before the season fall into the late rounds, and unheralded guys blow up and end up in the first.
For Penn State, no player has seen their draft stock change as much as corner Kalen King. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been for the better. King entered his junior season coming off a stellar 2022 campaign, one so good it made scouts wonder if he was a better pro prospect than former teammate and current Pittsburgh Steelers corner Joey Porter Jr.
His season did not go as planned, but he still was being mocked in the late first round as recently as two months ago. He was able to participate in the Senior Bowl thanks to a new rule allowing some underclassmen, but his performance was memorable for all the wrong reasons.
His attempt at improving his stock at the NFL combine also fell flat, with a very disappointing workout.
Kalen King is a CB prospect in the 2024 draft class. He scored a 6.51 #RAS out of a possible 10.00. This ranked 788 out of 2255 CB from 1987 to 2024.
Pro day pending.https://t.co/JSHcVddPs9 pic.twitter.com/lcPYHQbriA
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) March 13, 2024
He improved his 40 time at Penn State’s pro day, but his speed on tape lines up with his combine time. He is much quicker than fast, which doesn’t play well at outside corner. He profiles more as a slot player with his size and speed limitations, but he has almost no experience there at the college level.
Some have even suggested he could be moved to safety, which he has even less experience playing. It’s no surprise with all the uncertainty surrounding his NFL role that his stock continues to plummet. According to NFL Mock Draft Database, King has fallen to a day-3 projected pick. That may end up being an overreaction but with the number of solid options at corner, it’s a real possibility.
I still believe King could become a good NFL player, but you can’t ignore his flaws. Hopefully whoever selects him has a solid plan in place to allow him to use his strengths.
